


A Matter of Time

by SiriuslyEmily



Category: Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Legacy (2010)
Genre: Discussions of death, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Flynn Lives AU, M/M, Multi, OT3, Post-Legacy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 16:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6617389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiriuslyEmily/pseuds/SiriuslyEmily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seven months after his return from the Grid, Flynn worries that he's running out of time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Matter of Time

**Author's Note:**

> My half of a trade with the wonderful [ lorabaines](http://www.lorabaines.tumblr.com) on tumblr.

“Babe, d'you think I need a haircut?”

Lora looked up from the laptop balanced on her knee, one hand still thumbing through a folder laid out on the bedspread beside her. She was trying to respond to a few work emails before getting ready for bed—there were always a handful in her inbox, no matter how clear she was to her co-workers about going on a vacation—and she’d only half-heard the question.

“A what, Kevin?”

“A haircut,” Flynn repeated. He was in front of the mirror hanging over the dresser across the room, already in pajamas (or what passed for pajamas, anyway—she wasn’t sure changing from jeans to sweatpants counted as ‘pajamas’). He tugged at a lock of wavy white hair hanging down in front of his face. “I think it’s getting too long.”

Lora adjusted her glasses and looked at him closer, considering. It did look a bit long; even the shortest strands curled down below his ears, and he’d stolen a few of her bobby pins in an effort to keep it out of his face. “It might be time for another one,” she said. “You’re looking a little overgrown, sweetheart.”

Flynn made a face at himself in the mirror, and swiped his hair back from his forehead. “Great.” He stumped over to the bed and plopped himself down next to her; Lora rescued the folder just in time. She moved it to the bedside table as Flynn hid his face in a pillow with a small ‘hmph’.

“It _has_ been a couple months,” she said. She reached over and threaded her fingers through his hair, petting his head comfortingly as she added, “And it’s just a haircut, Kevin.”

Flynn merely made another muffled noise in response. She smiled and resumed reading as Alan entered from the bathroom, his hair still damp from his shower and carrying the day’s clothes—and Lora’s, which she had neglected to pick up from the bathroom floor after her own shower—under his arm. He stopped and frowned at the sight of Flynn still lying face-down on the bed.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“Kevin’s upset that he has to cut his hair again,” Lora said.

“Really?” Alan studied Flynn a bit. “Hmm. It is a bit long.” He carried his pile of clothes to the hamper in the corner, continuing over his shoulder, “But what’s the problem? It’s not like you have go out to get it cut, Kevin. You just do it yourself.” That was true; Flynn had joked that he’d cut his own hair enough while he was away that he could probably cut Alan’s for him, too. Alan had declined the offer.

“It’s not about the actual haircut, man,” Flynn said, rolling over to face him. “It’s just—I mean, do you know how often I had to cut my hair on the Grid?”

Alan shrugged, and Lora shook her head. She understood the principles, but she still sometimes had trouble mentally adjusting for the time difference inside and outside the computer. “How often?” she asked.

“Every ten years. A decade!” Flynn ran his hand through his hair again, tugging at the ends irritably. “Now I have to cut it after a couple months.”

Alan moved to the closet and started setting out his clothes for the next day. “I think you’re getting a little too upset about this. It’s just a haircut. ”

“No, it’s not just a haircut,” Flynn said, shaking his head. “It’s four haircuts since I got back. Four in seven months!” He sounded so indignant that Lora had to laugh. He glowered up at her. “I can see it getting longer in the mirror almost every day.” He ran a hand over his face. “Hell, I can see myself aging.”

Lora laughed again, her eyes straying back to her laptop screen to review a few lines of the last email as she said, “Kevin, I’m sure you can’t—“

“I’m sure I _can_ , babe. I mean it.”

There was an edge to his voice that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Lora looked back at him. Flynn met her eyes for a moment before looking away, and she realized he wasn’t joking anymore. Maybe he hadn’t really been joking at all.

She glanced at Alan. He was watching Flynn, looking concerned. He gave her a questioning look, and she twitched her shoulders in a minute shrug. Alan’s frown deepened, and he crossed the room to sit down on the edge of the bed. Flynn didn’t look at him; he had closed his eyes and was wearing a carefully blank expression, the one he now wore whenever he didn’t want to talk about something. Lora, who remembered when Flynn would rail on about almost any subject for an hour without stopping, still wasn’t used to that.

She carefully shut her laptop and set it on top of the folder on the bedside table. Flynn kept his eyes shut. She and Alan exchanged a worried glance, and then she asked, tentatively, “Kevin?”

It took Flynn a moment to look at her. “Yeah?” he said. His tone was just the right amount of casual for Lora to know he wasn’t feeling casual at all.

Lora held out her hand. Flynn looked at it, then at her. She raised her eyebrows and waited. Flynn laughed under his breath, sounding only a little exasperated, and pushed himself up into a sitting position. Lora slid closer to him and took his hand. Alan settled fully on the bed next to Flynn, legs crossed and hands folded in his lap.

Flynn looked between them with a brittle smile. “Are we having one of those serious talk moments?” He shifted a little, avoiding their gazes. “I’d rather we just went to sleep.”

“We aren't going to just ignore that you're upset, Kevin,” Alan said.

Flynn huffed. “Seriously, it’s fine.” He nudged Alan with his elbow. “You were right, man, it’s not a big deal. It’s just a haircut.”

“Don’t bother lying,” Alan said flatly, “especially if you’re going to do it that badly.”

“I’m not—“ Flynn started, but Lora laid her free hand on his shoulder. He looked at her for a long moment and sighed. “I’m not getting out of this talk, huh?” he asked.

“Nope,” she said. “Sorry.

Flynn sighed again and leaned back against the headboard. “It’s really not a big deal. And there’s nothing either of you can do.”

“You won’t know that until you tell us what’s wrong,” Lora said.

Flynn shook his head. “Trust me, you really can’t. It’s something I need deal with myself.”

“Right,” Alan scoffed, “because that’s worked out so well for us in the past.”

Flynn looked as if he was about to argue, but then he stopped, and to Lora’s surprise, smiled, a little tiredly. “Yeah,” he said, “you’ve got me there, man.”

Lora clasped his hand in both of hers, holding it in her lap. He looked down at her, and she met his eyes steadily. “Kevin,” she said, “what’s wrong?

Flynn took a deep breath and let it out through his nose slowly. The other two said nothing, just waiting for him to speak. Finally, quietly, he said, “I wasn’t kidding about the aging thing.” He glanced at Lora and continued, “I know it sounds dramatic, but I really can see it. Every few weeks I look at myself and I’m…older, just a little. ”He shrugged. “I mean, obviously. But it happened a lot slower while I was on the Grid.”

“And now it’s a lot faster,” Lora said.

Flynn nodded. “Much faster. Easier to notice, too. It feels like I’m going through life on fast-forward. On the Grid, it took ages for me to even go grey. Changes happened so slowly you could barely see them happening at all. There was just so much time to fill.” He smiled tightly as he added, “Drove me a little nuts.”

Lora squeezed his hand comfortingly. Alan moved closer until he and Flynn were shoulder to shoulder. Flynn’s smile looked a bit more genuine as he looked between them, saying, “Don’t worry. You get used to it after a couple centuries.”

“It’s only natural that you’d have trouble adjusting,” Lora said. “You spent more time on the Grid than you ever did out here.”

“Yeah,” Flynn said, “and more than I ever will.”

Flynn sounded almost wistful, and Lora wasn’t sure she liked it. Alan looked like he was thinking the same thing: his expression was set, and a muscle in his jaw twitched. Flynn must have noticed their discomfort, because he squeezed Lora’s hand and nudged Alan again.

“That’s not what I mean,” he said. “I love being here. I love being able to see Sam whenever I want. I love being with you two. I love being _home_. You both know that. I wouldn’t give any of this up for the Grid, not again. I spent too long wanting to get out to even think about going back permanently.” He sighed. “But that’s kinda the point. I spent ages wishing I could come home, and now I’m here, and it’s great--but it’s going by so fast.” He smiled again, but his voice shook slightly as he added, “I had all the time I could possibly need, and I didn’t want any of it. Now I finally want more time, and I don’t have enough.”

“What do you mean?” Alan asked.

“I mean it’s all gonna pass by so quick, and then…” He shrugged. “It’ll be over.”

Lora’s grip on his hand tightened. Alan’s jaw twitched again, but he put a hand on Flynn’s arm, shaking his head. “Flynn, you’re fifty-seven. You’re not dying anytime soon,” he said firmly, as if he would personally see to it that Flynn would live to see his hundredth birthday given half the chance.

“The average life-span is what, eighty years?” Lora added. “And it’s getting higher all the time.”

“You’re missing my point,” Flynn said. “Eighty years old, okay—that’s another twenty-three years. Let’s be generous and round it up to thirty. Three more decades.” He moved so he could look them both in the face. “Thirty years is nothing,” he said, looking between them seriously. “It’s a drop in the bucket for me. It’s _nothing_.”

Lora didn’t know what to say. That in itself was alarming; she thought she would always know what to say, how to fix something, but Flynn was right--this wasn’t something any of them could fix. She squeezed Flynn’s hand, and he gave her a weak smile. She couldn’t return it.

“It’s not nothing.”

Lora and Flynn both turned their heads. Alan was watching them both, frowning again, but more contemplative than concerned. He hesitated, but continued, “Well, it’s not. Thirty years is longer than Lora and I have been married.” He reached out and took Lora’s free hand, and gave her a small smile. “Hell, it’s longer than we’ve known each other.” He took Flynn’s hand too, continuing, “And it’s longer than I’ve known you.”

Lora nodded slowly. She thought she knew what Alan was trying to say. “It’s longer than any of us worked for ENCOM, too,” she said.

“It’s longer than Sam’s been alive.”

“Longer than any of us have known Roy.”

“Longer than Lora’s worked in DC.”

“And it’s longer than you were gone, Kevin,” Lora finished. “For us, at least. The last thirty years have felt like an eternity, sometimes.”

Flynn was shaking his head again. “That’s not what I meant…”

Lora leaned against him, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “I know. I know you’re still scared. I don’t blame you. I can’t imagine living that long only to have so little time left. But I do know what it’s like to wish you had more time.” She pressed closer to him and squeezed Alan’s hand. “I feel it whenever I look at you two.”

“Me too,” Alan said quietly. “It may not be very long, but after all that time we spent missing you, Kevin…frankly, I’ll take whatever we can get.”

Lora nodded again. “And every bit of it will be worth it. We’ll make it worth it.”

Flynn said nothing. Lora waited, not sure what else she could say. Alan’s hand tightened over her own, and she knew he was out of words, too. She hoped that what they had said would be enough, at least for now.

It took a moment for her to realize Flynn’s shoulder was trembling, just a little, beneath her cheek. She lifted her head, concerned, and started to say something--but then Flynn was pulling them both into a hug, holding them tight. Lora cautiously laid an arm over his back.

“Kevin?” she asked.

Flynn didn’t answer; he just hugged them tighter, almost painfully, but Lora didn’t mind. She wrapped both arms around him, and felt Alan do the same. Flynn was still shaking slightly, and when he finally spoke, his voice was shaking, too.

“You two,” he said, “are the cheesiest people on the planet.”

Lora laughed out of surprise more than anything else as Alan let out a frustrated “ _Flynn_ " and tried half-heartedly to pull away. Flynn kept a hold of them both, laughing too.

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing!” He hugged them tighter again, still chuckling. “It’s cute.” He let them go, and Alan straightened up, giving Flynn a look as he did so. Lora stayed close, smiling slightly as she watched the two of them. Flynn ran a hand through his hair, his smile a touch tremulous, but his voice was mostly even now. “Thanks,” he said, “Seriously. You're right. I mean, at least I get to spend it here. That's worth it, even if it's too fast. So...thank you." He looked down, almost shyly. “I love you guys.”

Alan softened, and he put an arm around Flynn again, pressing a small kiss into his hair. “Love you too,” he said gruffly.

Flynn smiled at that, wide and sincere. Lora kissed his cheek and said, “We both do.”

The smile became a grin, and he tugged them both down to lie properly on the bed. Lora reached over to turn out the light as Alan pulled the covers up over them all. Flynn held them close, an arm draped over both of them, and Lora felt him relax, some of the tension in his body draining away. She knew this wasn't fixed, not really, but at least, for now, they could stay like this. They laid in comfortable silence for a while; Lora was nearly drifting off to sleep when Flynn spoke again.

“How do you guys feel about ponytails?”

“Hmm?” Lora huddled a little closer. “On you?”

“Yeah. Instead of cutting it.”

“You’d look fine with whatever,” Alan murmured sleepily.

“They’re starting to make a comeback,” Lora added, closing her eyes.

“Cool. I’ll think about it.” He hugged them both a little closer, his voice soft. “I’ve got plenty of time.”


End file.
